Understanding your eyelash extensions

Understanding your lash cycle is just the same as understanding your menstrual cycle. Honestly. It is almost just as predictable. They go through different growth stages like any other hair on our body and understanding this will help you understand why sometimes your lashes last 3 weeks before a refill, sometimes even 4, and then sometimes you ‘re needing a top up at the 2 week point.

So lets first remove any external factors that affect the longevity of your lash extensions. This includes proper application, use of adhesive, type of adhesive, your make-up regime, how much you rub your eyes, your cleansing regime, the humidity, products you use to clean, your make up, your lifestyle, how much you sweat, the weather, and some more. I could write a whole list of things but let’s save that for another post and name that “How to get the most out of your lash extensions”. As you can see, there can be many many factors other than your lash cycle that affects how long your eyelashes extensions will last and can differ between refills. Lets remove these external ones, and first look at the lash growth cycle in a nutshell and layman terms.

Our eyelashes go through a life cycle and this spans to about… 90 days. Again, bear in mind, even this is affected by factors like diet, medication, and genetics so again “other external factors”. There’s 3 growth phases; Baby, Teen and Adult. Pardon the simplicity but if you want to read up these you can search “Eyelash Growth Cycle”. Have a look that the break down of stages. I borrowed this image from here, and added these facts from here.

And to simplify it a teeny bit more, here’s a quick diagram I’ve split up based on potential hypothetical “Weeks”.

MOST trained eyelash technicians will know these stages and they will lash those lashes that are deemed “lashable”. I stressed MOST because having previously worked in an eyelash salon and those who claimed to be trained, I have seen some work where every single lash was lashed.

Anyway, I digress. Here, at EyeWonderlust, I lash those lashes that fall between the 7-12 week. I am particularly picky in which lashes I choose to lash as I actually care about my client’s lashes (GASP!) …especially their long term health of their lashes.

Here’s the theory now about “How long will lash extensions last”. Every single lash goes through the cycle differently and lets assume the lash technician you go are all trained, have the right technique, use the same adhesive, lashed during the same conditions with the same humidity and temperature.

Say you go to lash studio A, and your 80% (lets just say 100) of eyelashes say are all between 7-9 weeks. You wake up beautiful, and your lashes are full and vavavoom. You’re being a good girl, cleaning them regularly, carefully, and you look after your lashes. You still look amazing after 3 weeks so you book yourself a 3 week refill lash minute. BUT OH NO! You can’t get an appointment (GASP!). So you have to look for another lash studio. Lash Studio B. You turn up, and loh and behold, that means your eyelashes almost 80% are now 3 weeks forward in their growth cycle, so lets assume they are now all “Adults” or turning into adults…

Lash studio B now lashes every single lashable lash. They will top off those lashes where the extensions have come off without the natural lash, remove and replace those lashes that have grown further than the 1mm from the root, and then carefully chosen which “new” baby lash that is healthy to lash at week 6/7.

Now, given that window, theoretically, from those original 100 lashes, within the 3 weeks, 25 have fallen out and with the refill, at 3 weeks, but you have added an additional 15 lashable lashes, so you actually only have 85 extensions on now. So you wake up, lashes not as full but you still carry on, pay your money and go.

1-2 weeks goes past and your lashes from Lash Studio A start falling out. You need a 2 week refill because your lashes look like the 90’s when spiky gelled hair was cool. You think you look horrendous.

Do you think:

Lash Studio B was crap?

Lash Studio A’s lasted 4-5 weeks. Ah-mah-Zing!

I should book my refills in advance.

I may need a 2 week refill rather than wait out the 3 week

Lash extensions are making my lashes fall out

I wonder if my techinician keeps track of all this so WE can together understand what’s going on and where my lashes are at in the lash cycle

Call my lash technician and chat to them about it

Lash technicians B is out there to jib me

Oh so many scenarios. But my point here is; FIND a lash technician that you can trust. We’re not all out here to steal and rob you of your money. Find one you know that is trained BUT also actually care about their work and are not under the pump of what their boss pays them. There are many out there. But yes there are also many who are clocking in and out and don’t actually care. Your technician should have notes each time you go in. Even they can predict whether they think you will need to refill if they understand this and more importantly, if you have stuck with them for them to have on file all these details.

TALK to your technician. IF you feel like you actually can’t have a friendly conversation about what you think might or might not be working, don’t put your lashes under their tweezers. Simple as that. It’s like finding a hairdresser you love and trust and a good family doctor.

So back to answering how long do lash extensions last? There are many adhesives out there and I can only assume good lash technicians are always trying new products so bare with them while all this is happening. Here at EyeWonderlust, the adhesive, at it’s best has a holding power of around 5-6 weeks. It’s ah-ma-zing. So plug that in into your eyelash growth cycle, and make some estimations.

Sorry I didn’t directly answer those questions but I know you’re smart enough to now understanding your eyelashes better.